Lord to Love Again: A Sweet and Clean Regency Romance

by Grace Sellers

  It was a lovely moment with everyone laughing and screaming, and Wolfolk smiled uncharacteristically as he rolled up his trousers.

  Nelly stood nearby, her feet bare, although she stood on the bank. Alice called her from the water a few feet away.

  “Are you coming in, Nelly?”

  Nelly stepped a foot forward, so the water licked at her toes. Even Sutherland now stood ankle-deep in the water.

  “What sorts of creatures live in this lake?” she asked suspiciously.

  “None that will want to eat you!” a young boy called back, which made Nelly frown.

  Wolfolk stepped into the water, which was shockingly cold. He saw that Nelly needed encouragement, so he held out his hand. “Here, take my hand, so you don’t slip.”

  To his surprise, Nelly clasped his hand and began to step into the water.

  “It’s so cold!” she squealed. She looked unsure, but her pretty mouth turned up in a smile as she stepped out further.

  The cold water exhilarated Wolfolk, and he held her hand carefully while making sure she didn’t wet the hem of her dress.

  She was actually smiling at him, not Sutherland. Wolfolk grinned back, and they laughed at the shock of freezing water. Sutherland stood several feet away, not smiling.

  “Would you like my help, my dear?” he called to Nelly, but he was too far away to get to her quickly.

  “No, Wolfolk has me steady,” she said pointedly.

  Wolfolk felt a shock of pleasure when she said his name. Perhaps he’d misjudged her. Her yellow ringlets bounced around her face.

  “Have you ever swam in a lake before?”

  “Certainly not. That is why I fear the lake creatures we cannot see,” she said back to Wolfolk.

  “There’s naught to fear here,” Lord Stanwyck called out. Wolfolk held out his other hand, and she took it, so they faced each other.

  She was pretty. Very pretty. And she had a lovely figure that any man would admire. Despite the heat, a shiver of masculine longing passed over him as he glanced covertly at her. Maybe he’d been wrong to judge her so quickly. After all, she still was a young woman whose character was being tempered. She was a bit silly, but what girl wouldn’t be in her circumstances? She could turn into a sensible, considerate wife like Lady Stanwyck. Most unmarried girls were silly, were they not?

  On the bank, Caroline alone sat on a broad, flat rock, cradling the youngest Stanwyck infant in the shade, watching them all play and saying nothing. She was still lovely, of course. And kind and steadfast and reliable. But she wouldn’t turn heads at social occasions the way Nelly would. But, more importantly, she had no dowry to contribute to his estate. And she was not an appropriate mate for a man of his title.

  Wolfolk held Nelly’s hand and turned away from Caroline toward the lake in front of him. He needed to at least try to suit with Miss Featherton, as Stanwyck had pointed out. He owed his family name and tenets that much.

  Caroline saw Wolfolk as he turned away. Or his un-look, rather. He looked everywhere but at her. She watched him turn his broad back on her and grasp Nelly’s other hand.

  She must have been mad to think he was interested in her.

  The baby wiggled in her arms as its mother, Lady Stanwyck, stood nearby, her own toes in the crystal water. Caroline reached down and found a shiny rock that glittered in the water and gave it to the babe to play with.

  She couldn’t blame Wolfolk.

  Well, a bit, but not very much.

  He would be foolish not to pursue her.

  And, more importantly, this was why she was there. This would allow her to go home and help her brother. This was exactly what she wanted.

  There was a squeezing sadness in her chest. But she had only herself to blame. She knew better than to trust a male member of the ton. Truly, that had been stupid. She leaned back, nuzzling the baby’s soft downy head. Bugger that, she couldn’t trust men. Period.

  She looked up, and she saw Lady Stanwyck watching at her with an odd look that almost seemed like pity.

  Wolfolk watched Caroline from the corner of his eye, even as he held Nelly’s hand. He was very careful that no one—least of all her—noticed it, but he was watching.

  He watched her help the children with their shoes and stockings as they clamored to get into the water. He watched her hold the hands of the younger ones as they tiptoed into the lake. And finally, he watched her sitting on the banks cradling the baby while everyone else played in the water. She put everyone’s needs before her own. She even made sure to throw sticks for the dogs so they would be entertained and gave them fresh water. And she looked quite natural with the babe.

  She was a considerate and kind person, which were excellent qualities to have in a lady's companion.

  Or a wife.

  No, he hadn’t meant that. Why had he thought that?

  She could be relied upon to do the right thing and he admired that. That was all.

  The best thing he could do for her was to ignore Caroline.

  Nelly had dropped his hand and shrieked when Master John splashed past her and dove into the deeper water. He and Stanwyck doffed their shirts and swam out to the middle of the lake, racing each other. The group laughed at their antics and cheered them on.

  Lady Stanwyck stepped out of the water and joined Caroline in the shade on the bank.

  “Well, that was lovely. Here, let me take my child off your hands, and you can step out into the cool water,” she said.

  “I don’t mind holding her,” Caroline replied.

  Lady Stanwyck shook her blonde head. “You are too kind. I insist. Please go enjoy the lake.”

  Caroline turned away from the guests and took off her slippers and stockings as discreetly as possible and then stepped out on the smooth rocks of the beach.

  Wolfolk spied her small white feet poking out from under her pink hem as she walked to the water and found that to be irredeemably charming.

  That was not what he was supposed to be thinking. He turned to Nelly and Alice, who were shrieking at Master John not to wet their hair.

  “Nelly, Alice, would you like to hold Persephone?” Lady Stanwyck held up the baby and called to the girls.

  “No, thank you, my lady,” Alice said between indecent fits of laughter.

  “Nelly?” Lady Stanwyck tried again.

  “No, thank you, ma’am,” Nelly said.

  Caroline had overheard. “Nelly,” she called from the shallow water. “Why don’t you hold the baby for a few minutes? What are you going to do when you’re a mother?”

  “I shall hand the baby to the nanny,” Nelly answered, still laughing and jumping to miss John’s tactical splashes.

  Wolfolk watched the women’s faces change. Lady Stanwyck’s face faltered for a moment, then fell back into the placid, pleasant expression she nearly always wore. But he could see it was a mask. It was unspeakably rude of Nelly to imply that she would not be interested in tending to her children. It was quiet for a moment. Then someone cleared their throat, and people began to talk again.

  “Shocking,” another guest said. By now, even Mrs. Buffalo had her own bare feet in the water.

  Caroline’s face went white. She said nothing more. Instead, she walked, holding her skirts up slightly to stay dry, to where Nelly and Alice stood ankle-deep in water.

  “Girls, that’s enough,” she said quietly, and John stopped splashing them. She took both girl’s hands and led them to the bank. At least she’s maintained her dignity, Wolfolk mused.

  8

  Caroline eyed Nelly sitting at her vanity, innocently brushing her hair with her silver brush. Nelly was not chastened by Caroline’s scolding for her comments at the lake, and she was still baffled by the girl’s comments.

  Didn’t she want to end up in a respectable situation? Didn’t she understand how precarious acceptance by the ton was?

  Of course, she didn’t. She had only known fawning due to her father’s wealth, but any show of impudence would result in doors sl
amming shut to her socially. Then, even with her money, she would lose access to people like the earl and the Stanwyck's.

  Nelly’s ladies maid knocked and entered the room to plait Nelly’s hair for the evening. Caroline sat on a chair sewing nearby. Another knock on the door surprised them. Lady Stanwyck stood, carrying a small candelabra with three lit tapers in it.

  “Good evening. I am sorry to interrupt your evening rituals.” She smiled as she stepped into the sitting room. She wore a gown and a robe, and her own hair was down in thick single braid. She looked younger than her thirty years.

  “Of course, Lady Stanwyck, we are honored by your visit,” Caroline said and shot a pointed look at Nelly.

  “Yes, Lady Stanwyck,” Nelly said less enthusiastically than Caroline would have liked.

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Oh yes, I just wanted to make sure you were both well and to discuss a delicate matter, if I may.”

  Nelly’s eyebrows went up with interest at this last comment. She shooed her maid’s hands away from her hair and rose up from her vanity.

  “Please, have a seat, “ Nelly said.

  So the girl could have manners when she tried.

  Lady Stanwyck set the candelabra on a side table and sat down.

  “I wanted to discuss Lord Wolfolk.”

  Ah, Caroline thought to herself, the Silent Earl was once again the focus of women’s attention.

  Lady Stanwyck smiled tentatively. “I know he seems a bit brusque, sometimes even rude. But he truly is a good man.”

  Nelly spoke. “I admit I do not know him well, but I believe he is beginning to reveal himself more each day to me.” She smiled.

  “You should understand that losing his wife was quite traumatic to him. They had only been married a year. And Eugenia was a passionate woman. She was quite beautiful but not always easy to live with, I suspect. I feared when he lost her, he may have done himself harm. He came and stayed with us for months when she passed.”

  “That was kind of you to take him in,” Caroline said. She did not know much about his wife, so she was interested to hear more.

  “Oh, yes. My husband and he are like brothers. We couldn’t bear thinking that he was alone at his manor,” Lady Stanwyck said of his ancestral home.

  Nelly’s eyes lit up at the name. “Have you visited? Is it quite nice?”

  Nelly, sly girl, was trying to get information about Wolfolk’s home.

  Lady Stanwyck nodded. “It is one of the loveliest homes in the county. Although I always say it could use a woman’s touch.”

  “Oh?” Nelly said. “Did the former countess not put her mark on it?”

  Caroline wanted to tell Nelly to stop her impertinent questions, but she was also interested in the answer.

  “The countess was only there a year,” Lady Stanwyck said. “It was not long enough for her to do so, unfortunately. I do want you to understand his Lordship’s demeanor. I believe he blamed himself for her death and still does.”

  Nelly frowned. “How could he blame himself for her death? You said it was an illness that took her.”

  “I fear he believes she would be alive if he had not married her.”

  Nelly seemed to consider this. “I will show more patience with him,” she declared magnanimously.

  “He has suffered much and earned his demeanor. But we hope another wife will help draw him out. He was not always so dour. The war has affected him as well.”

  Caroline shivered at the mention of the war, although Lady Stanwyck didn’t seem to notice. She wondered how her brother was faring.

  “It has affected all of us,” Caroline mused.

  Nelly nodded knowingly before gesturing to Caroline. “Her own brother, my second cousin is addled from the war,” Nelly said cheerfully.

  Caroline, who would have preferred to not share that information with Lady Stanwyck closed her eyes for a moment, but Lady Stanwyck noticed. She took Caroline’s hand.

  “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t aware.”

  “It is quite all right. We are hoping he will improve in time,” Caroline said.

  She still hoped it was true.

  The next evening, Stanwyck had invited Wolfolk to his office for a cognac before dinner. He poured the liquid from a cut-glass crystal decanter and handed him a glass with a knowing look.

  “You may need this more than me,” he said.

  Wolfolk took a sip, and the liquid coated his throat in a pleasant burn.

  “Do I seem that poorly?” he asked his friend.

  “Not terrible, but not good either. Although the squirrel was a nice touch, but I’m afraid you have a ways to go.”

  Wolfolk took another sip of brandy.

  “And where exactly am I headed?”

  “To wedded bliss, which is a place I thought you wanted to be.”

  Wolfolk turned and looked out the window to Howsham’s vast green gardens.

  “Does that place exist?”

  Stanwyck laughed and threw back his drink with a satisfied sigh.

  “Now, now. I know the brooding knight persona has worked for you in the past, but I think it’s time to slough it off. “

  Wolfolk eyed him but said nothing.

  “I know how difficult it was for you after Eugenia. We all know you’ve had a rough go of it. I don’t really know how you’ve done it, but you’re on the other side. Don’t you see this is your chance for a different ending?”

  Wolfolk cringed at his friend’s words but was careful to hide it. “I’m glad you didn’t say ‘happy ending.’ What if wedded bliss is not in the cards for each of us?”

  Stanwyck toyed with a new quill set on his desk.

  “Isn’t it a bit early to reach that conclusion? You’ve barely had a conversation with the girl, but she is the richest and most beautiful girl out this season. Two qualities worth appreciating.”

  Wolfolk fiddled with a button on his coat. He hated fiddling.

  “I know you are right, but I can barely get myself to through dinner each night.”

  “You need some inspiration, that’s all. You need to remember how it is to make a pretty woman smile and hold her in your arms as you waltz,” Stanwyck smiled again. “Among other things.”

  Was Stanwyck right? Had he just lost his taste for the hunt? Maybe bedding the right woman would set him straight. Of course, now he was in the country and away from any woman who may have helped with that. Although he knew he could find that kind of woman at nearly any of the nearby inns.

  Stanwyck set a match to an unlit cigar, the smoke drifting up the high ceiling. “Anyway, you will at least have a chance to hold a partner tonight. I’m told by my wife that there will be dancing after dinner. And she will never forgive you if you do not partake.”

  Wolfolk groaned. Of course, Lady Stanwyck had planned dancing. Through the window, he watched a footman light the gaslights in the garden as the evening sun dipped down below the horizon. Maybe he needed to try harder. He imagined holding Miss Featherton in a waltz, her eyes shining up at his. Dammit, instead he remembered sitting next to Miss Holland on the curricle and how she smelled like lemon soap.

  Stanwyck interrupted his thoughts.

  “Besides, old boy. You can’t lose Miss Featherton to Sutherland. She deserves better than that. Even if it’s you,” Stanwyck said, winked at him, and drained his glass.

  But what did he deserve? If a man has been unhappily married and—admittedly— wasn’t always kind to his wife, how could he deserve a new, happy marriage?

  Wolfolk followed suit and finished the last of his cognac.

  The late afternoon drink made the idea of dinner seem more favorable, and Wolfolk joined other guests in the formal dining room. It was neatly set with a large vase of freshly cut flowers from the garden in the center, gleaming silverware and tall, slender candles. Not surprising. Lady Stanwyck always knew how to entertain with aplomb.

  He teetered on one foot and sat down more quickly than he meant to. He was the sligh
test bit tipsy, but it was a pleasantly warm feeling. He found himself smiling at an ancient woman at his right. She was Lady Stanwyck’s mother if he recalled correctly. She grinned back toothlessly.

  “Lovely weather,” he said pleasantly.

  On his other side was Miss Featherton, who was a vision of youth in pink. Lord Stanwyck sat across the table on one end, and Miss Holland next to him.

  He must talk to Miss Featherton, cut through his introversion and connect with her. She was a lovely girl with pretty eyes. It couldn’t be that hard.

  Before he had a chance, Caroline spoke.

  “My lord, we must thank you again for the delightful addition of the squirrel. She has had a bath and smells now of chamomile soap, isn’t that right, Nelly?”

  “Yes,” Nelly said.

  “Oh?” At least his gift was appreciated. “Sounds as though she smells better than some men I’ve met. Wouldn’t you agree, Stanwyck?”

  “Tis true.”

  The women all smiled at that comment, which relieved him.

  Lady Stanwyck allowed her youngest, a strapping toddler, to join the table for his first adult meal, but his manners proved challenging. He was currently picking up the first course of fresh garden peas with one hand and popping them in his mouth, which he missed about half the time. One squashed pea slid down his cheek.

  “No, no, Michael. Use a spoon.”

  Nelly and Alice giggled at the boy, and Caroline cleared her throat to gently remind them of their manners. But she too stole a look at the boy and her mouth curved up in a smile, amusement in her eyes. She looked both wise and kind, which Wolfolk thought were the best of all possible qualities in a woman.

  As the next course was brought out, Wolfolk drained his wine. An even more comfortable warmth settled in his limbs. “Does your new pet have a name?”

  Nelly’s friend, Alice answered, “Her name is Jezebel, but we call her Belle for short.”

  Lady Stanwyck’s young son grabbed several peas and flung them down the table.